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Space in Romanian and Hungarian Cinema pp 63–77Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Romanian New Cinema

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Abstract

This chapter calls for the canonisation of contemporary Romanian films and groups them according to their implicit and explicit approach to the socialist past. By establishing three categories (retrospective films, Romanian New Wave, and Romanian past films) within the contemporary Romanian feature film corpus, the chapter focuses on internationally recognised Romanian productions such as Stere Gula’s I am an Old Communist Hag (Sunt o baba comunista, 2013, 2004), Radu Muntean’s The Paper Will Be Blue (Hârtia va fi albastră, 2006) and Andrei Gruzsniczki’s Quod erat demonstrandum (The Escape, 2013).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For the debate on the New Wave label, see Fulger (2006), Scott (2008), Pop (2010, 2014), Filimon (2010) and Pusca (2011).

  2. 2.

    It can be argued that, like the New Danish Cinema (Hjort 2005), the Romanian New Wave is a small nation’s response to globalisation, thus ‘(…) a dense and complicated site for the emergence of alternatives to neoliberal conceptions of globalization or cinematic globalization on a Hollywood model’ (Hjort 2005, 8–9). Consequently, the Romanian national cinema challenges the Hollywood formula by producing low-budget, cross-border movies that travel across European and American festivals.

  3. 3.

    Pop proposes this term in order to distinguish the first new wave of the 1960s from the contemporary one.

  4. 4.

    When analysing the thematic similarities among the New Wave films, other theorists call for canonisation too. Lucian Georgescu (2015) sees the kinship in the productions’ escapist narratives: as he argues, the New Romanian Cinema has ‘a unifying scheme, escape – personal, of a group, of an entire nation – as a common conclusion, its failure’ (2015, 148), which manifests, inter alia, in topics of transnational migration and marginalised youngsters. Pop (2014) also argues that these productions are concerned with marginal characters but emphasises the ‘anti-heroic figures’ in the narratives that share ‘dark humour as a key motif’, are interested in ‘the troubled relationship between fathers and sons, and are aware of feminine issues and questions’ (2014, 4). Since most of these characteristics are valid for any European art film, this book argues that the main thematic connection lies in the implicit or explicit referencing of the Ceaușescuian past.

  5. 5.

    For further examples that explicitely reflect upon the past while rejecting the neorealist-minimalist perspective, see Cristian Mungiu’s Tales from the Golden Age (Amintiri din epoca de aur, 2009), Gabriel Achim’s Adalbert’s Dream (Visul lui Adalbert, 2011) and productions such as Somewhere in Palilula (Undeva la Palilula, dir. Silviu Purcarete 2012) and Beyond America (Dincolo de America, dir. Marius Barna, 2008).

  6. 6.

    There are several other productions that centre on the nostalgia of the characters who face the shortcomings and exploitative structure of the capitalist everydays and thus become disappointed in the new establishment. For instance, Of Snails and Men (Despre oameni si melci, dir. Tudor Giorgiu, 2012) illustrates how Western capital has exploited the Romanian industry, and other productions concentrate on the contemporary damage socialism has caused, such as prostitution [Ryna (dir. Ruxandra Zenide, 2005), If the Seed Doesn’t Die (Daca bobul nu moare, dir. Sinisa Dragin, 2010); Outbound (Periferic, dir. Bogdan George Apetri, 2005) Maria (dir. Calin Peter Netzer, 2003)], migration [(Morgen, dir. Marian Crisan, 2010), The Phantom Father (Tatal fantoma, dir. Lucian Georgescu, 2011), The Other Irina (Cealalta Irina, dir. Andrei Gruzsniczki, 2009), Francesca (dir. Bobby Păunescu, 2009), First of All, Felicia (Felicia Inainte de Toate, dir. Radulescu-Raaf, 2010), If I Want XE “Şerban, Alex Leo” (Şerban, Florin, 2010) to Whistle, I Whistle (Eu când vreau să fluier, fluier, dir. Florin Şerban, 2010)], corruption (Treasure, Stuff and Dough), drugs (Rocker, dir. Marian Crisan, 2012) and poverty (Chasing Rainbows/Si caii sunt verzi pe pereti, dir. Dan Chisu, 2012). These films mirror no difference between the socialist regime and the contemporary establishment and portray the latter as being as miserable as the totalitarian regime.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Anna Batori

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Batori, A. (2018). Romanian New Cinema. In: Space in Romanian and Hungarian Cinema. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75951-7_5

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